Clark Lea shows once again he is everything right with college football

There's a lot to complain about in life and in sports. But you see? Despite all the doomsday speak, there are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as college football. Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea is one of them.

The 2025 College Football Playoff field is just the second ever with 12 teams. People moaned and groaned and forced changes a year ago after the field didn't fall in perfectly, and this year has been no different. Parties bickered over BYU, Alabama, of course, Miami and Notre Dame, with Texas and Vanderbilt orbiting the conversation as well. Ultimately, Alabama and Miami got in, the others didn't, and now we move on.

However, programs like Notre Dame won't put their pitchforks down. On Monday, the ND athletic director was sour at the ACC over playoff discussions while the Fighting Irish team announced they wouldn't participate in a bowl game. That sounds like the behavior of sore losers.

Notre Dame wasn't alone, though. Steve Sarkisian campaigned for the last eight days to get Texas in the field with three losses. Manny Diaz at Duke made his team's case for the field after they lost five games this year but rallied for the ACC title. Meanwhile, many other programs have followed Notre Dame's lead and opted not to play in their bowl games.

Not at Vanderbilt, though. No. On Monday, head coach Clark Lea stepped up to the podium and shared two sentiments that few other coaches would: That his team didn't do enough to make the College Football Playoff, and that at Vanderbilt, they like playing football, so they'll go and compete and try to win whichever bowl game they wind up in.

"You know, we happen to be on the wrong side in this moment, but look, that's no one's fault except for our own," Lea said in his Monday press conference following the release of the CFP field. "We had our opportunities, we didn't do enough. So, we are not victims in this process."

Clark Lea on Vandy missing the Playoff

“That’s no one’s fault except our own. We had our opportunities and we didn’t do enough.”

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— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) December 8, 2025

He continued with more gold: "Our ownership is in coming up short," says Lea. "It's a reminder of how critical every moment is, every snap, every possession. And there's a lot to learn in this season because we want to be back in these moments."

But coming up short of the ultimate goal doesn't mean Vanderbilt is going to pull a Notre Dame and just give up on an ongoing season right then and there after missing the field. Instead, Vanderbilt is jazzed to face Iowa in the ReliaQuest Bowl down in Tampa, Florida.

"In the meantime, we're going to celebrate the hell out of going and playing in Tampa and having some fun together one last time," Clark Lea emphasized.

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